Tea Mugs
by AloisPhantomhive429
Summary: The Eleventh Doctor has an unusual reaction one morning while Amy is making tea. And to think, it's all because of a tea mug that reads "I (heart) New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York!"
1. Chapter 1

For once, the TARDIS is peacefully quiet. Well, quiet except for the soft mumbling of expletives from the Doctor where he's under the console attempting some repairs. Now, Amy is certainly no mechanic, mind you, but the appropriate way to fix something normally doesn't involve slamming it with a hammer. Then again, she also never imagined a strange man would invade her home to eat fish fingers and custard.

Rory is in his and Amy's bedroom where he's attempting, and subsequently failing, to make the bed correctly. Seriously, what's the point of having all these throw pillows if they just get cast aside at night? Not to mention, the Doctor's driving isn't the smoothest, and lord knows how often Rory and Amy come back to find their belongings strewn throughout the room.

Amy's in the kitchen, preparing tea for the occupant's of the blue spaceship to share, and just as she's reaching for the mugs- "WAIT!" The Doctor's voice rings out behind her, causing her to jump, and whirl around to her raggedy man so she can tell him just where he can shove his 'wait'.

However, the look on his face stops Amy in her tracks. This isn't her doctor with his goofy smiles, wild hand gestures, and insane love for bow-ties, fezzes and Stetson's. No, this man standing before her looks, for the first time, every bit of the Time Lord he is. While it's not uncommon to see the Doctor's true age expressed in his eyes or words, never have his emotions been displayed so blatantly on his face as they are now.

This is the face of a man who's seen billions of years worth of history in one moment. The face of a man who's seen town's, cities, countries, and planet's burn themselves up with power, or thirst, or war. A face of a man who's felt every emotion known to the universe as deeply as a stake driven savagely through his heart. A man who lives with the knowledge that he's the last of his people, but, more than that, it's his fault. A man who feels so vast and extensive in this universe that he's constantly running towards something that will reduce him to the size of a mouse. A man whose pain runs so deep that it can never be assuaged, so he spends his days helping to curb the pain of others. Mostly though, it's the face of a man who's resigned himself to the greatest of heartbreaks. And that is the most painful thing in the universe to see.

Rory runs into the room, seemingly alerted by the Doctor's shout. "What's wrong? What's happening?"

At a loss for words, Amy simply shakes her head, unable to voice the severity of the situation because she doesn't know. She doesn't know what set the Doctor off, and, if whatever it is reduces the great Time Lord to the man he is now, she's not sure she wants to find out.

"Doctor?" She questions, her voice never having been so gentle.

"I-I'm sorry, it's just-" The Doctor clambers for words, and it's excruciating to see the man with all the answers unravel into a stuttering mess. However, before either Rory or Amy can respond, the Doctor grabs a mug from the open cabinet behind Amy, and escapes into the TARDIS.

A beat of silence passes between the Pond's before Rory pipes up again with, "Amy? Is everything okay?"

"I'm not sure. I've never seen him look like that." She responds in her Scottish twang.

"What exactly happened?" Rory presses, tone measured and skeptical. It's not the first time the Doctor's reacted strangely toward something, but the look on Amy's face causes his jaw to clench along with his fist. Nobody hurts Amy! Not even the Doctor.

Amy shakes her head, draws a breath, and says, "I was making tea, and he just flipped out. I was reaching towards the mugs when he yelled, and I almost tore him a new one for scaring me half way to the bloody moon! But his face, oh God, Rory, his face. You should have seen it. He looked so ancient. It's easy to forget how old the Doctor really is with his antics, but, for a split second, I saw the man behind the mask."

Tears welled up in the flirty ginger's eyes, and her husband drew her into the circle of his arms, gently smoothing her hair as his wife cried over the completely inhuman man they called the Doctor.

This, Rory thinks, is by far the worst part of traveling with the Doctor. While there's no doubt in Rory's mind that Amy loves him, she loves the Doctor too. Not romantically, of course, but there's just something about the Doctor that makes people want to fix him, help him, impress him. To watch his wife jump through hoops for the Doctor is a great and terrible thing. Rory and Amy have experienced many victories and grand adventures though their travels, but they've also seen terrible things, experienced horrible loss while knowing there was nothing they could do to help. To have a thousand years worth of experience with those great and terrible things, well, Rory can only imagine what the Doctor's face must have looked like.

"Do you want to go talk to him?" Rory questions as he wipes a stray tear off her face.

"I don't know what to say."

"That's a first."

"Oi! Shut it, stupid face!" And, with that indignant statement, Amy Pond is back to her old self.

"Why don't you start by asking him what happened?" Suggests the roman. Amy nods her head then grabs his hand before leaving the kitchen to find the Doctor.

Now, you may not be aware of this, but the TARDIS is big. Like, once you go in you never come out, big. Not to mention, because the time machine likes to change things now and again, it makes things very hard, if not impossible, to find a person if they don't want to be found.

Apparently, however, that is not the case in this particular situation. Expecting a day long expedition to find the Doctor, Amy and Rory are surprised to discover him in the very first room they come to. More than that, though, the door is open. Wide open in an unspoken invitation.

Now or never, Amy thinks as she draws in a deep breath, and ventures into the room.

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 **And there you have it!**

 **Not sure if I'll continue this story, or leave it here...**

 **Anyway, review please!**


	2. Beginnings

**Since you guys apparently liked this, I'm turning it into a story.**

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Upon entering, the room looks as though it's never had an occupant. It's a fairly large room, as most rooms on the Tardis are, containing a neatly made bed, a bedside table, a dresser, a desk, and what appears to be a vanity. However, even with all of that furniture, the room still has an air of emptiness encompassing it as all of the furniture had been pushed to the edges, skirting along the walls, and leaving a large space in the center of the room.

The room is spotless, and Amy almost wonders if it's simply a spare bedroom. She'd come across a few rooms that had belonged to past companions of the Doctor, and all them contained at least one thing each person had left behind. A shirt, a blanket, a hat. Just little things, as if to remind the Tardis herself that they had been there. But not this room, no, this room is spotless with not even a speck of dirt to indicate anyone's presence. It looks as though no person had ever even laid eyes on the room. Well, no one except the Doctor who's sitting quietly at the foot of the bed, tea mug in hand with that terrible, time worn look still on his face. He gives no notice to Amy and Rory, though it certainly isn't because he doesn't _notice_ them.

The silence that surrounds the group can not be described as nervous or fearful, but, instead, as patient. Each one seems to be waiting quietly for the other to speak, and, yet, no one has anything to say. Sure, Amy can start the conversation by asking the Doctor a million and one questions, but she knows from experience that he'll simply ignore them before changing the subject to some far away planet. And, of course, Rory can simply console the Doctor, assure him that no explanation is needed while Amy glares daggers at him. And the Doctor, well, the Doctor can finally open up to someone, let out all the hurt and frustration he harbors about the, frankly, unfair situation that took something of his away. But, the doctor hates endings, and to talk about _this?_ No, he can't face endings, let alone acknowledge them.

However, something certainly needs to be done as they can't simply walk out the door, and forget this ever happened. To do so is idiotic, unnecessary, and, admittedly, a bit cowardly. So, with that thought in mind, the Doctor is the one to break the silence.

"Have I taken you all to New Earth, yet?"

"Doctor." Amy says, a clear disappointment in her voice. Apparently her raggedy man has, once again, decided to shut everything, and subsequently everyone, out.

"It's where I got this mug." The Doctor continues, holding it up for demonstration.

And then, Amy understands. The Doctor doesn't quite speak her language of people, and conversations. Instead, he speaks his own language of far away galaxies, distant planets, and alien races.

"More specifically I bought it as this little shop in New New York, though the city itself was the fifteenth New York since the original, hence the mug." He elaborates, holding the mug in such a manner that, sure enough, Amy can read 'I (heart) New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York' much like the design she'd seen on modern day t-shirts.

"So you bought a souvenir? From a planet that you can visit any time you like?" The certainly isn't very Doctor-like at all.

"I didn't buy it for me!" The Doctor defends, "I bout it for a….. a friend. And old friend."

Amy doesn't miss the pause as he searches for the right word, and the one he lands on is seemingly unsatisfactory, judging by the look on his face.

"Why are you telling us this Doctor?" Rory asks, speaking for the first time on the subject.

"You both know I hate endings. They're complete rubbish. There's always a loose end, someone is always lost, and someone is always, _always_ left disappointed. But do you know what's absolutely brilliant?" The Doctor asks.

Amy and Rory simply stare at him, waiting for the answer.

"Beginnings."

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 **Review if you like.**


	3. Her Name Was Rose

**I think you guys probably know that if you recognize it, I don't own it.**

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 **Previously**

" _You both know I hate endings. They're complete rubbish. There's always a loose end, someone is always lost, and someone is always, always left disappointed. But do you know what's absolutely brilliant?" The Doctor asks._

 _Amy and Rory simply stare at him, waiting for the answer._

" _Beginnings."_

Now, one may think that after such a seemingly apparent start to an amazingly heart-wrenching story, the teller would simply continue outlining said story plot point by pain-staking plot point with plenty of humor thrown in to balance out the inevitable heart-break that comes with the infamous ending. However, seeing as how Amy and Rory are dealing with the Doctor, who is not quite yet accustomed to telling tales of the past, they quickly realize that an explanation is not made readily available.

Instead, the alien in question is gazing at the tea mug in his hand with a self-satisfied smile on his face, as if he believes that everything needed of him has been given. Which, in some respects is certainly true. No one deserves to hear the Doctor's story of a certain pink and yellow human, the very human who saved him from the most cliche of all things, himself. Then again, this memory harbored so closely to his hearts won't be shared for the sake of others, or even for his own sake, so that he might begin to _start_ healing from the gaping, jagged hole in his life. No, if this story is told for anybody, it is told for her, for that miraculous human girl who showed the _Doctor_ a better way of living _his_ life. Though no one deserves to experience the story of her, she deserves for her story to be told.

"Her name was Rose." The Doctor begins, startling the other two occupants in the room out of a silent conversation most certainly about him.

"Well, her name still is Rose, I suppose. It's strange, I normally don't have to worry about tenses when I speak. Something new everyday though, eh?" The Doctor elaborates, looking up at the Pond's with a smile a little too big, and eyes a little too sad.

"That's a lovely name." Amy responds, moving over to sit next to her raggedy man, and wrapping a comforting arm around his shoulders. Of course, this move leaves Rory with no place to sit but on the other side of the Doctor, effectively sandwiching the Time Lord, and making escape a billion times harder. Of course, the Doctor wouldn't possibly attempt escaping a conversation that he's been avoiding years now.

"It is, isn't it? Her full name was, is, Rose Marion Tyler. Such a simple name, don't you think? More princessy than fairly tale."

"Oi!" Any retorts, shoving the Doctor playfully.

He smiles before continuing on with, "I met her in my ninth regeneration when I traced the signal of the Nestene Consciousness to a shop in London where it was controlling all the mannequins. And I don't know why, but she helped me stop the big NC. I mean, back then I was all big ears, and sarcasm with rage and depression to boot. Simply put, I wasn't the best company. Even still, she chose to come with me in my Tardis. We saw the end of the world together, fought ghosts alongside Charles Dickens, and even witnessed the first meeting between humans and alien life, and let me just say that it was much gassier than I expected."

"Sounds like an adventure." Amy comments.

"The very best," the Doctor continues, sadness lacing his voice and coloring his smile. "But it wasn't the aliens, or the ghosts, or even all the running that mad it an adventure. It was _her._ Throughout all the time we traveled together she just made everything seem like so much... _more_. Rose taught me that there is always something out there bigger than anything imaginable. She taught me that, despite having seen the wonders of the universe, even I still had things left to discover."

"She made you the man you are today." Rory speaks up in understanding.

"No, she taught me how to _be_ the man I am today. Traveling with her seemed like the closest version of a happy ending I could achieve. But then, of course, the universe reminded me that the ending was still to come."

"What happened?" Amy questions.

"We ran into some trouble on a space shuttle named Satellite 5. It wasn't the first time we'd run into trouble there, but it was the first time that our chances of survival were at zero. Daleks had taken over, and there was no way out. So, I sent her home. I put her in the Tardis on a one way trip."

"But that's not how you lost her. You're still here, and you still have the Tardis. _"_ Amy interrupts, eyebrows furrowing in confusion before understanding lights her face. "Oh my God, _she_ saved _you_. Talk about turning tables."

The Doctor grins at her, and continues on, saying, "Yes, she did save me; though how she did it is completely beyond anyone's capabilities. Somehow, she managed to pull the Time Vortex into her head. Using that, she controlled the Tardis, and came back to me before using the vortex to obliterate the Daleks. She named herself Bad Wolf, and through out all the time we had been traveling together, she had been sending herself those two words over and over again across all of time and space, making it look as though the words were following us."

Confused, Amy asks. "Isn't that good though? She saved you."

"Amy, the time vortex isn't meant to be held within the confines any consciousness because the vortex in itself is a consciousness. I'm not even strong enough to contain it." He explains.

"Then how did Rose do it?" The ginger questions.

"She didn't. The vortex was burning her up from the inside out, how she held on to it for as ling as she did is beyond me. So, I took it form her, pulled it into my own mind."

"Um, but you just said that even you weren't strong enough to contain it, or whatever." Rory points out.

"I'm not strong enough to contain the vortex, no one is, it would kill them, and it killed me. However, I do have one advantage over most people. I can regenerate, rewrite every cell in my body, and that's exactly what I did. I regenerated."

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 **I'm honestly not sure how well this chapter turned out, I hate rehashing things- especially when most of you know the story anyways.**

 **Anyhow, review if you want!**


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